LONGMEADOW — A thrifter’s paradise is coming back to Longmeadow to kick off the holiday season with the First Church of Christ’s Christmas on the Green Fair.
On Dec. 6, shoppers will be able to browse through two floors of handmade crafts, antiques, baked goods, jewelry, art, home decor and more. The event will be at the church, located at 763 Longmeadow St., from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The event is run by the Women’s Benevolent Society of the First Church of Christ, founded in 1803 and believed to be the “oldest continuously active women’s group of its kind,” according to the church. The Christmas on the Green Fair has been around as early as the 1930s.
“We’ve been doing this for a very long time,” Fair Organizer Christina Carroll said. “What we try to do is continue to honor the tradition of making things ourselves.”
This event is a combination of a traditional holiday fair and a “really nice estate sale,” according to Carroll. Instead of independent vendors, the fair consists of selling donations by church members and friends of the congregation and a wide variety of volunteer handmade crafters as well, selling items like jam, quilts, knitted hats and mittens.
Carroll said the type of donations for sale will be a range of antiques to new toys, books, Christmas decorations, jewelry and art. Everything is sorted through and designated into different shops at the fair during a week-long set up process, in hopes of selling at a lower price than what can be found online.
“It’s donated things but it’s not like a tag sale,” Carroll said. “It’s more like a beautiful antique thrift shop. It’s shopping for everyone.”
The event is family-friendly and children are encouraged to come take photos with Santa all day long. There will also be a cafe open until 2 p.m. and a luncheon from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Last year, the fair saw about 600 patrons and 700 people overall, Carroll said, if you count volunteers.
“It’s fun, it’s really fun,” Carroll said. “The whole community is invited and welcomed and it’s very festive. It’s a lot of people, a lot of work and we give all the money away after.”
All proceeds from the event go directly towards supporting the 20 local community service organizations on their list that help those in need, such as the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, Griffin’s House, YWCA of Western Massachusetts and Griffin’s Friends. Last year, they were able to raise $17,000.
“What we do after the fair is a meeting and we have a list of organizations that we’ve given to,” Carroll said. “We won’t say ‘no,’ we won’t give to this organization anymore,’ we’ll add new organizations to the list.”
Carroll said the best part of the fair is being able to give a “big chunk of money away at the end,” and invited the community to come get their holiday shopping lists done with a cause.
